9781422285053

Mission Prep

“When I grow up, I want to be a firefighter!” Young people have declared that as a goal for decades. The image of the brave fire- fighter risking life and limb to pull people out of burning build- ings is legendary. Fire is one of the things that most people fear. Firefighters are the people who face that fear and save the day. Communities have had to rely on firefighters for thousands of years, of course. From the first “bucket brigades” to today’s high-tech flame-fighting crews, the job has called for the bravest people around. Firefighters go wherever the mission takes them, from high-rise fires to burning apartments, from vehicle rescue to flames scorching the forest. The goal of helping people remains at the top, but getting there takes a lot of training and, today, involves the use of high-tech gear. Firefighting History Firefighters have been needed since people started living in cities and buildings. Ancient civilizations relied on buckets of water or dirt to smoth- er fires. Rome had groups of citizens more than 2,000 years ago who

Words to Understand justify explain using reasons or math in order to prove a point rig another name for a fire-fighting vehicle

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